This week marks not only the end of United Way of Sheboygan County’s 2017-18 Fiscal Year but also the time of year we celebrate the collective impact in our community.

Defined as a diverse group of organizations coming together to solve complex social problems, collective impact fosters lasting relationships, mobilizes resources and creates sustainable solutions through a collaborative approach.

Each year, United Way nurtures collective impact in our community by collaborating with nonprofit agencies, companies and individuals across Sheboygan County.

Through mobilizing resources, the United Way of Sheboygan County invested in two focus areas and 38 programs provided by 20 local nonprofit agencies for the 2017-18 Fiscal Year. United Way’s focus areas are Providing Access To Healing (PATH) and Sheboygan County Community Partnership for Children (SCCPC).

As a result, more than 43,000 individuals had access to programs and services that focus on getting to the root of the problem. Whether that be through preventative programs or immediate need services, the collective contributions made to United Way had a huge impact this past year.

“We are continually humbled by the wide-spread support of United Way’s mission to serve individuals and families in Sheboygan County,” said Tom Malmstadt, Executive Director for United Way of Sheboygan County.

Partner Agencies and the Focus Areas for 2017-18 put those dollars into action but resources are more than just dollars. Alongside trained employees, nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers.

Every year on the second Thursday of September, we celebrate each new campaign season and kick-off the annual Day of Caring. Volunteers from across the county did just that on September 14^th, 2017. More than 550 volunteers gathered to work together on 45 projects for 29 nonprofit agencies. This amounts to about 3,000 hours and over $70,000 worth of work.

These outputs are only a few examples of collective impact hard at work.  

Other Highlights of 2017-18 Fiscal Year:

• The SCCPC coalition has developed and continues to grow their Welcome Baby Program, Community Developmental Screening Days, Parent Café Workshops and the Born Learning Trails.
• The Welcome Baby Program (through SCCPC) has visited over 500 families in the hospitals, sharing community resources and connecting them to the Parents as Teachers home visiting program. 
• The PATH program continues to show positive impact with students in those schools. Of the students utilizing the PATH program, 95% reported progress towards individual goals, 97% felt better understood, 92% would return to therapy if needed and 78% reported improved relationships.
• The sixth annual Harvest for the Hungry was a huge success serving 1,356 meals in support of United Way.
• 13 restaurants participated in the 2018 Dine Out for United Way, donating 10% or more of their proceeds from March 9 to 18^th.
• United Way hosted the third annual Spirit of Sheboygan County Volunteer Awards during 2018 Volunteer Week. The Osthoff Resort prepared a delicious meal for guests as we celebrated seven categories of individual and group volunteer awards.
• New Board of Director Members: Paul Carlsen, Barb Felde, Leslie Laster, Deidre Martinez, Melissa Mauer and Cearra Warne.
• New Finance Committee Members: Gary TeSelle, Nathan Simmons and Melissa Mauer.
• New Community Action Team Members: Gary TeSelle, Nathan Simmons and Cory Roeseler.
• New Staff: Katelyn Braun is hired as the Director of Community Development, Heather Dana is hired as Administrative Assistant.

Thank you to the long list of volunteers, advocates and contributors this past year. Your support is critical to the sustainability and growth of our community. Together, we can continue to grow our collective impact and provide access to the resources people need most in Sheboygan County.

A special thank you to all the company campaign coordinators, teams and leaders for sharing our mission and the various resources in our community with colleagues and encouraging them to give back. Thank you to United Way’s Board of Directors, Committee Members, 2017-18 Campaign Co-chairs, Dr. Joe Sheehan and Dr. Jackie Joseph-Silverstein for advocating and continuing to mobilize United Way’s mission.

CLICK HERE to listen to Tom and Katelyn talk on the radio about the past year.

For more information, updates and ideas on how to get involved, contact United Way of Sheboygan County by calling 920-458-3425 or emailing info@uwofsc.org.

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